"How is she?" Catherine ran into the hospital waiting room with Lindsay in tow. "God tell me she is okay."
Grissom squinted into the bright fluorescent light. "I don't know." The images of Sara unconscious and with pale skin drifted back. He covered her with his coat but she wouldn't stop shivering. When the ambulance finally arrived, Sara was loaded in less than a minute. He rode the whole way squeezing Sara's unresponsive hand. More pressure and bandages were applied to her wrist to stop the bleeding but it all kept soaking through. It was like a plague that consumed entire populations within minutes. Grissom shook away the dreadful thought that Sara might not make it through this. He thought he was going to lose her before his chance to finally be with her arrived.
Catherine breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Lindsay, which brought Grissom back to reality. "What happened?! This is crap Grissom, first Holly, then me, and now Sara. Where was the officer that was supposed to be with her?"
"Dead. He was stabbed six times." He remembered finding his bloodied body behind the patrol car when he arrived at the crime scene. Then the screams came from the house. His heart stopped in that one moment. He un-holstered his gun and the safety came off. He found her with all that blood flowing from her lower wrist and that asshole bent over her. He cut her a second time on the wrist in anger. Then there came the cut across her stomach. There was so much blood. Grissom's hands began to shake. Someone hurt Sara; his Sara. That man was going to kill her and still may succeed in doing just that.
Catherine noticed the shaking. "Lindsay find a magazine while I talk to Uncle Gil."
The little girl didn't say anything and moved off to the magazines. "Gil who did this?"
He swallowed and calmed his nerves. "I checked in and Ecklie is handling the scene. Brass ID the guy as Jarod Morse. He was an old case of Sara's from San Francisco. He just got it in his head to break parole and come after her." He looked at Lindsay then at Catherine.
Catherine sat down, her legs unable to hold her up anymore. "It was planned."
"Yes." The shock was gone from his voice. Grissom accepted that some people were just evil.
"Where are the others?" Catherine asked.
"Nick and Warrick are on their way." He whispered.
She touched his hand. "How are you?"
"I'll be okay, if she is okay."
She didn't expect him to say something like that, but she knew his feelings ran deeper for Sara than those he held for the others. They shared a past and an unfounded trust. It was to be expected that he feel this way. Catherine rubbed his hand. "Have they let you into see her?"
"The doctor is supposed to come and brief us on her condition."
Catherine took her hand away to cradle her face. "Jesus. Her condition? She has a condition. Gil, I can't let Lindsay see her. She looks up to Sara. I wouldn't have brought her but I was in too big of a hurry to drop her off at the sitter's."
"I know." Twenty minutes of uneasy silence passed between them as their thoughts wandered to Sara lying in a hospital bed or lying dead in surgery.
"Warrick!" Lindsay ran to his arms as he scooped her up.
He smiled widely to her. "Hey Linds!"
She girl returned the smile but it quickly faded. "Sara's hurt."
He put her down next to Catherine. "I know but she'll be okay. I promise; and I never break a promise."
Nick was flushed red from the rush to get to the hospital. "We went by the crime scene. Ecklie is handling it."
Grissom nodded. "I know."
"Any word?" Warrick asked fully concerned about Sara. When they finished up their last case, Sara tore off and said she needed to be alone. He felt somewhat responsible for letting her go alone.
"No."
Just then the doctor walked up with a clipboard in hand. "Gil Grissom?"
He stood up and offered a hand. This may be it. If she is gone, then he would quit living. It was all that simple.
The doctor shook his hand. "I am Dr. Walker and Sara is just fine." Grissom sat down again as his heart gave way to relief. He sighed heavily as the doctor continued. "She sustained some bruised ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a nasty concussion to accompany the other bumps and minor bruises. The cuts were our biggest worry. He cut her wrist pretty deep and nicked a main artery, when she was brought in she lost a lot of blood. But we gave her a transfusion and have them stitched and bandaged so she should be fine. The one she got on her stomach was just a scratch. She should heal fairly quickly with no scarring."
They all breathed a little easier. "How long are you going to keep her here?" Grissom asked. He wanted Sara to be with him, not in some hospital.
"Right now I am thinking about three days. It should be sufficient."
"When can we see her?" Catherine asked eagerly holding onto Lindsay's hand.
Dr. Walker searched their caring eyes. "She asked to see only Mr. Grissom." Everyone looked at Grissom waiting for him to say something.
He swallowed hard. "I'll try to get her to see you all."
"That's okay if she don't want to see us Gris." Nick said quickly. "She asked for you. We're going home. Tell her we'll see her tomorrow."
He smiled and let Dr. Walker ushered him to Sara's room. It was dimly lit and the only sound was a constant beep from a monitor. Sara opened her eyes at the sound of the door to see Grissom standing in the doorway. "Hey." Her words were slow and so were her actions. The loss of blood was doing a real number on her system.
Grissom smiled. She was okay. "Hey."
"I'll leave you two alone." Dr. Walker closed the door and left them in peace.
He pulled up a chair from the corner. "How do you feel?"
"Horrible."
"Honesty is the best policy." He chimed.
Sara looked to the door. "Do they suspect anything?"
"No."
She swallowed hard. "I couldn't let them see me without seeing you first. They would have read me like a book." A slow smile spread across her face when she realized he was deep in thought and not even paying attention. He always got a particular look when he was thinking. Warrick called it that Grissom look. It was so nice to see him again. She knew he was there at the house but it didn't seem real for her. He was real now. She touched his hand that rested on her bed. He jumped.
"Promise you'll never do that again." He said suddenly looking into her eyes.
She raised an eyebrow which seemed to take all her energy. "What?"
"Don't ever leave me Sara." She smiled again at his childish behavior. "I am serious Sara. I never want to see you in pain again. Promise me."
"I promise that I'll try."
"Good enough." He kissed her hand. It sent electricity through his lips and through her body. It was amazing what they did to each other. "Get some sleep. I'll see you when you wake up."
"Okay." She mumbled and slowly drifted to sleep.
Grissom stayed awake until she fell asleep, and then soon followed her. The doctor woke him up three hours later. "Mr. Grissom."
His eyes flew open. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing but visiting time is over. You need to go home and get your rest."
Grissom looked over to Sara's sleeping form. "Will she be...?"
"She'll be fine. Visiting time is nine to one tomorrow. You can come back then."
He hated to leave her but rules were rules. He knew she was okay and that had to be enough for now. He slowly rose and placed the chair back in the corner. He quickly kissed her forehead then left her to rest.
"Mr. Grissom you were listed as her guardian if she was in an accident. Do you know where her parents are?"
"In California."
"I don't think I should call them because her condition isn't as serious as it could have been but they should know."
"I'll leave that to Sara." Grissom said quickly. He really didn't know much about Sara's relationship to her parents. He wasn't about to step on any toes. Besides it would seem less dramatic if Sara told them she was fine, rather than another person.
"Okay. I trust you. Get some rest." Dr. Walker smiled.
"What are the visiting hours again?"
"Nine to one and three to seven."
Grissom shook his hand. "Thank you."
"My pleasure."
tbc...